Here’s Renee L’s review of Lynn Worsham’s Plugged in: Technology, Rhetoric, and Culture in a Posthuman Age:
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This is really good, like your use of examples. It sounds like a really good book to read and I think I would like it. I like that there was a chapter on something we talked about specifically in class. That idea of giving cameras to students to shift the power of what they are seeing. I think this idea is really important becuase with the use of youtube people feel like they want to have that power more and more.
Nice, Renee. I couldn’t really get a sense of how you felt about the book tho. I was also interested in hearing more about what that guy called “posthumanism pedagogy.” Is that just a pedagogy that centers on how we interact w/ each other mediated through technology, as opposed to through direct P2P communication?
Hi Dave: This book was loaded theory, integrated theories. I had trouble making this video.
I think this book may have been a better choice for you or Brian.
Posthumanism and Transhumanism are two separate things. Posthumanism focuses more on Kairo, experiences of here and now with the integration of science, technology, art, cultural studies, and philosophy (usually from aristotle or plato). Transhumanism, from how I understand it is more futuristic.
It is SO boring but I learned a lot and feel like I stretched my brain a bit.
I feel ya Renee! The book that I read was very theoretical too, which made it difficult to explain in a 10 minute video when you don’t have much time to lay the foundation for the argument. But you do a great job.
Renee, It seems you had a really difficult book to review. I too had no sense of whether you liked it or not or would recommend it. It seems that it was very heavy on theory and philosophy. I couldn’t get a sense of his ideas of the future-with him referring to cyborg students–is he indicating a negative world view for the future, or is he seeing technology as a positive?
I am glad you chose this book–sounds really difficult, and you did a good job with it!
Well some of the ideologies are a bit scary and kind of suggest a negative world view (my original interpretation) but then I doubted myself and thought maybe I missed something.
Imovie made it really difficult to cut and paste. I probably have 4 hours of footage.
I had to cut it down to 10 minutes. I redid my review a few times because I looked kind of silly, child-like and I lacked the ability to hit the main points. I felt “drunk” on theory.
I wrote everything down to help ground my review because I had a hard time staying in the moment.
There is a lot going on behind the scenes, especially with my own thinking. But, I think if I had a few more months to work on it, my review would have looked better.
I also had a problem with bringing images to the review. Creative commons doesn’t have many bread and butter fly images.
I almost used a time machine picture but I think that would have just made even more off centered.
I felt like I was learning an entire semester of classes through one book. It was way too much for someone that is new to this kind of theory. But it was a good learning experience!!!
Wow! Talk about theory… I really commend you for taking this on. It would have scared me away if I found out about the density. Even so, you’re right. It seems interesting all in all. I especially liked how the book addresses being able to read society and understand society through the ways we use the internet and the content on it. And, I kinda think it is funny how that person said students will become cyborgs. Really? As you pointed out, it seems a little bit much. Was it just a way to grab attention, you think? In the end, thanks for the input on how gadgets allow us to participate with technology and life rather than just view it as television has allowed in the past. I think that is an important thing to focus on if you want to examine the benefits of new technologies in the world today.
Thanks for commenting on your thoughts about the book here, too. I thought you did a good job giving an overall review of the book, but I wanted to know whether you would recommend it for us to read, too.
I agree Ashlee! Nice job Renee, but I wouldn’t have wanted to tackle a text with so much theory! Sounds like a tough one! I thought the idea of the blurring of boundaries and abandoning of identities was really interesting. We are all different and don’t see things the same, so it only makes sense that we need these theories to apply to our own lives!
Yes, I recommend to read it but make sure you have lots of time to spend with it.
Renee, this book sounds very cool! It looks like it’s in the same series as my book! Can you talk more about the concept of “cyber ethos”? It sounds very important to online literacy. Does Fleckenstein discuss how to have good character online? Is cyber ethics all about persuasion, or does it apply in other online interactions/for other motives, too? I’m also utterly fascinated by the idea of the posthuman and cyborgs. Like Dave, though, I’m still struggling to grasp how these two concepts relate to pedagogy.
I’m curious about this too because there’s been a lot of feminist scholarship, especially as it applies to technology, that makes reference to Donna Harraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto,” and in that, she says at the end “I’d rather be a cyborg than a Goddess.” I have a feeling that this is something that Fleckenstein is referencing (though I don’t know for sure), so I would think that the whole cyborg/post-human pedagogy thing might have been talked about in more positive terms than you were suggesting in your video.
I don’t know if that’s a question, exactly…
It’s a complicated book for sure, and I’m glad you tackled it!
Hi Carrie–
I’ll write a response to your questions in a blog. I am sorry it was confusing for people. It was so much information to grasp and put into a 10 minute video.
No worries! It’s just big, dense stuff. Looking forward to reading about it on your blog!
Well i watched the video she made before this one and she had so much to pack in the 10 mins we had. I think in a way it connects really to all that we read about how we are connected to our computers and other technology divices. Its there in what Renee says maybe just not in the straight forward way some others have said it.
I just really admire you for tackling this! You still get my applause. Take heart also, it took me hours to do my 10 minute video…………….. live and learn, huh?
Thanks Judy!!
Renee this was heavy duty. I have listened to your video 2 times and each time I pick up some new things. I can’t imagine what the whole book was like. You did a good job of relating the infomation in the time frame of what we have to work with. I will read your blog. Nice job.
Nice job Renee. As everyone has said, this book really seemed dense with theory. As far as I know about the Cyborg Manifesto, it’s an argument for the end of gender construction through technology – it’s a myth building essay in my opinion and it’s actually really good, although the point is overstated. It’s an essay I’ve had a sort of love/hate relationship with myself.